If it were enough
by Lady Fionnavar
Summary: Its been a year since they parted ways. What have they been up to? What happens when they (inevitably) meet up again? Can Fuu keep pretending she hasn't missed Mugen? Can Mugen actually say what he really feels? And what about Jin? Will he remain a wandering bachelor forever, or will Shino be waiting at the end of his travels? By the way: The weather forecast predicts some lemons.
1. Chapter 1: Jin

((Note: This is a fuugen fic, but I'm not cutting Jin out of it _if I can help it_, like I've seen many fics do. Like he just conveniently goes somewhere at a random time so that Fuu and Mugen can have some moments. Or he's not there at all. But they are friends, and in keeping with that, I think it's only right they get back together (traveling) like in the series.

Also, so you know; I spent time trying to figure out the mugen-fuu-jin ship and see what was true (from what I could see. I tried to be unbiased and not look for romance where it was just friendship or something). I love fuugen and I like romance, but I want to stay as true to the anime as possible. So; what I deduced: Fuu loves Mugen. Jin loves (or cares for) them both as friends. Mugen is fond of Fuu. Love though? I'm not sure. I feel like its plausible that he does from how he acted and the things he said, but it wasn't so clear when I watched for it. He's a bit too good at not saying things or reacting much. He did things that made me feel he _could _be in love with her, but he could have just been doing those ambiguous things because he was fond of her. But (from what I understand) he knows Fuu loves him. For that reason, I think he loves her. I think he's been alone without family or real friends for so long that when Fuu says that bit at the river to Jin, insinuating she loves Mugen, he can't help it. Has any female loved him before? (Or anyone, really?) I'm not trying to invent romance from nothing, but there is human nature to take into account. If no one has loved you, then someone comes into your life who sticks to you and loves you (and you know it), wouldn't you love them, if only for the reason that they loved you? Mugen doesn't act awkward or annoyed the next day, like she's some annoying girl with a crush he has to deal with. He doesn't make fun of her about what she said either, which would be in keeping with his nature if he didn't love her. And I keep feeling like Watanabe (director) insinuates Mugen loves her. He said that Mugen is like Spike (Cowboy Bebop, another project he worked on): he's not good at expressing himself when he likes a girl (or woman. lol. Not one he doesn't see just as a sex object).Why would Watanabe even mention that if he didn't mean Fuu? The other women in his world Mugen had no trouble talking with and he obviously just lusted over them. So who else could he mean? Some might say that girl who was pretending to be a whore to uncover illegal activity in the brothel basement (Yatsuha), but Mugen only ever was horny around her. She may have said he's the man she'd marry, but he never acted like he loved her, or even liked her beyond the sex he could get from her. And Koza is not even an issue. *cough*bitch*cough* Oh, excuse me. :P

Sorry for the long diatribe, but I thought you readers should know where I'm coming from in my Samurai Champloo fanfic (fanfics? We'll see).))

I do not own Samurai Champloo, the characters, etc… (But I wish I could own Mugen. Muhuhahaha. )

This story will have lemons. Not this chapter, but there you are. I'll put the lemon warnings on those chapters, no worries.

**Chapter 1: Jin**

Jin sipped his tea in the little eating house, quietly thinking about the past year he had spent. Except for the jobs he had taken to make money to keep traveling, it had been pretty uneventful. He thought back to the times before that, like he often had, and missed his traveling companions –no, his friends- again.

He couldn't stop his wanderings though. If Shino ((is that her name?)) had been free he would have gone to her by now, but he had nothing to do but travel and wait for the two more years left for her time in the woman's shelter before she was free. He didn't want to make life plans until he saw her again, because he planned to include her in that life. But waiting made him restless, and he could not find peace in one place. He had secretly hoped that fate would let the paths of him and his friends meet once again somewhere along their travels. So far, fate had not granted his secret wish.

Paying for his meal, he left the town's only eating house and went to the inn he was staying at. It was the town's only inn. The town was more of a pit stop in the middle of nowhere than a town. In his room, he set about cleaning his swords meticulously. His latest job had just finished and he was anxious to get on the road again. He liked the serene quiet of the road, but he had also gotten tired of being alone, though he hated to admit it. He had never needed anyone before he had met Mugen and Fuu. They were the only family he had. Living his whole life alone could only serve to accentuate his loneliness when they had walked out of his life a year ago.

But they _had_ parted ways, and now it was up to fate and chance to determine if he would ever see them again. He hoped he would.

Fuu had surprised him. He thought she would ask them to continue traveling with her. But he didn't pretend to always understand her. He hoped she hadn't gotten kidnapped again or anything. But she was probably fine.

He wondered what trouble Mugen was getting into right now. The ronin had to smile inwardly, thinking of all the trouble the vagabond had gotten into on their journey and his flippant nature. They were similar, but not the same, like two sides to a coin. Both had fought only for themselves and had been alone. Both were killers.

After a long relaxing bath, he dried off and got into his under-kimono. He blew out the candles and was asleep as soon as his head touched the futon.

The next morning he left Wassamu after finishing his breakfast and practicing with his katana and wakizashi as he did every morning unless there was no time, and headed southwest out of town. He was glad to be leaving the north, because summer was almost at an end and he didn't relish the thought of being colder than necessary when winter came around. He would normally never come so far north in the first place, but then that was the lure of it: it was some place new. Even though Ezochi had a lot more remote places than the rest of Japan, it was still able to offer him ample amounts of work. A sword-for-hire, especially one with his level of mastery, was always welcome. In fact, he tended to be less badly fed and less likely to sleep outdoors now while traveling alone than when he was traveling with Mugen and Fuu. But he didn't mind their constant bickering and the troubles they got him into. In fact he almost missed it.

Jin finally reached Sapporo, nine days later. The bustling seaport was a hive of activity. He immediately set about looking for work, since he was running low on funds again, but the first few places he asked were not interested in hiring more employees, or so they said. He was starting to seriously considering hiring himself out as a guard in the red light district.

He was about to cross the street to head that way when a band of horsemen raced through the streets down towards the harbor, cutting off his path. He mentally sighed in annoyance and waited. Finally they passed, and he crossed the street. "Reiko!" somebody cried. He turned around to see a chubby faced little girl who couldn't be more than a few years old toddling across the street. Then she fell on her butt and giggled and patted the dirt in childish glee. A horseman was riding down the street straight at her, as if he didn't see the toddler. With the speed of lightning, Jin ran for her, scooped her up and was on the other side, setting her down when the horseman rode by. "Fool!" He muttered at the figure on horseback who was now far down the way.

A woman in a cotton lavender colored yukata tied with a white obi scooped up the girl and hugged her tight. The girl squirmed in her grip, oblivious to the drama that had unfolded. While the woman sobbed, a man came out and gripped her around the shoulders. The commoner was ashen faced with the thought of what could have happened. "Reiko, don't run off like that!" He scolded, looking shaken up. He bowed to Jin. "Thank you so much for saving our little girl!" The man eyed his swords, surprised a strange ronin would save a child. But still, he was grateful. "It was nothing really. Those riders should have been more careful on a populated street." Jin said, aware that a crowd had gathered. He hated attracting this kind of attention.

He made to leave but the man stopped him. "I couldn't help but overhear that you are looking for work?" "How did you figure that out?" Jin asked, suspicious. "I was at the shop where you asked if they were hiring. I was shopping with them." He pointed at the woman and little girl, whom Jin assumed was his family. "I see." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I know of a man who is in need of someone who knows how to handle a blade. The pay is not very high, but its work. Ask down by the docks for Harou. Oh, and tell him that Etsuko sent you." He bowed again and then led his family away from there.

What? No name of the shop, or a more exact location? Jin shrugged. Work was work. He would find this Harou person somehow.

"See, what 'cha do is cut off the head, then slice 'em length-wise and pull out their guts and backbones. Then hand 'em to Fumie and she'll handle the rest." Harou said. A vein in Jin's temple pulsed. He opened his eyes, his face not concealing his grim displeasure, and said "So let me get this straight. You want me to gut fish? I was under the impression my swords would be used for something else. Something like being a bodyguard for example." Harou arched his right eyebrow. "Body guarding? I'm a fishmonger, not a Daimyo or Yakuza. And these fish don't need protecting." He guffawed at this, as if it were some great joke. Then he sobered up and gave the young ronin a hard stare. "Look, you want the job or not? Etsuko must've thought well of yeh, but if you're unwilling, I'm sure I can find someone else to do the work." Jin mentally groaned. This is not what he had learned sword fighting to become. Such a job was unfitting for his blades. But the job was right in his face, and he didn't want to waste time looking for another. "No, its fine. I'll do it." Harou grinned broadly and slapped him on the back hard enough that Jin gasped for the breath that had been knocked out of him. "Well, that more like it lad. I was beginning to think that you were one of them high-browed sorts who don't like doing an honest day's work. We can't all be lords, can we?" He didn't see Jin scowl as Harou turned, laughing, to leave him to his work. "Don't mind Harou. He doesn't mean any harm." Fumie told him without looking up, as she cleaned the fish in front of her of any remaining innards and rubbed salt into the fish flesh. Jin shrugged. She tossed the fish into a crate and looked up. "Welcome by the way." She smiled. It was strange to see such a quiet and gentle looking woman working for a fishmonger. Interpreting his look, she informed him. "Harou is my husband." His eyes widened at this surprising revelation. But she had used his first name. She grinned at his reaction. "I get that look a lot. Let's just say I married under my station. But I don't mind. I'm happy here." Jin supposed he could see how that was possible. She reminded him of Shino by her quiet manner. He closed his eyes and wished a silly wish. He wished as always, that the three years since he saw her last until when he could see her again were over. But he had no power over the slow stream of time.

Then he opened his eyes with a look of determination and tied back his sleeves. He accepted the long apron Fumie handed him. Time to be a fishmonger.

"Harou!" The man yelled from the door to the building where Jin and Fumie were working. Jin was covered in fish guts and smelled fishy. He was sweating and annoyed by now. Those slippery damned fishes were harder to cut and clean than they looked. The man's yelling was not helping his mood. "Harou is not in, Wajiro. He went to Eiji's on business. You'll have to wait, or come back later." Fumie told him. "I ain't waiting! The man said he'd pay me today, and I'm here now." "He'll pay you when he gets back. Or you can go to Eiji's to find him." Fumie replied calmly, as if used to dealing with surly and threatening men. "Eiji and me don't exactly see eye to eye. I ain't going over there. So _you_ can just pay me instead." When she didn't respond, he yelled "Now woman! Or do you want me to take it out of your hide?" He said, advancing menacingly. "I believe you should wait calmly here. Why are you in such a rush to be paid?" Jin said, looking as calm and emotionless as always. Inside however, this man was starting to piss him off. He began to slowly and meticulously wipe his blade on his apron. Wajiro eyed the fish-covered Jin and told him "Stay out of this, four eyes. This don't concern you." The insult about him wearing glasses reminded him of Mugen for the breadth of a second. Wajiro pulled out a tanto from his sleeve and grabbed Fumie around the waist, locking her arms at her side and held the blade up to her throat. "So give me what he owes me or I'll…." He was cut off by the feel of a sudden short wind and by a gurgling noise. It took a minute to realize he was choking on his own blood. Jin had reacted the moment the tanto was out and had closed the gap between them in a flash, slicing Wajiro's throat in a whirlwind of cloth and steel. Wajiro fell over, dead, a look of surprise on his face. Fumie shuddered and stepped away from the dead man. Jin sliced his sword through the air with a snap of his wrist to shake the blood off his sword, before sheathing it smoothly. Fumie eyed him. After some time that seemed like longer than it really was, she finally spoke. "While I am grateful you stopped him, wasn't it a bit extreme to kill him? A warrior like you should have had no trouble to incarcerate him without harming him much." Jin didn't speak for a few minutes, but stood looking at the wall in front of him and not at her. "I lost my temper." He finally admitted, somewhat guiltily. "Geez, remind me never to get on your bad side." She grinned weakly. He went back to where he had left the fish he had been cleaning. "Hn."

"Goodbye! Good luck young man." Harou said, a broad grin on his face. He handed Jin some fish on a string. "Thank you." Jin said, taking the fish. He nodded to Fumie and then turned and was on his way back to the main road through Sapporo.

He had walked halfway to the outskirts of town, when more horsemen, like he had seen on his first day in town, raced down the street, making people jump out of the way to avoid being trampled. Amidst the chaos that followed, Jin spotted a rock flying through the air. It struck the last rider, who fell off his horse. Turning at the sound of their comrade yelping in pain, they witnessed him fall off his horse as they reined theirs in and turned around, looking for the source of the rock. A young man stood there, tossing a rock in his hand and catching it repeatedly, as if to let them know it was him who injured the man. One by one the horsemen got off their horses and drew swords on the young man, surrounding him. One of the men was checking on his friend. "He's breathing. I didn't throw it that hard." The young man said, smiling. "What's the big idea, kid?" One of the bigger men said. "You get a kick out of causing trouble or something? You have a death wish or something? Didn't your mother teach you manners? It's rude to throw rocks. "And it's not rude to be running people over in the streets like the people there don't matter?" He was still smiling almost amicably, but his look was like steel. "Its not when they don't. I think we should teach this pup his place." The man said, smiling as he unsheathed his kitana. "Why do I bother?" Jin mentally sighed in annoyance at himself, before walking in between the men, looking like he was just on a nonchalant stroll, as he pushed between two of them to stand next to the young man, who was pulling what looked like a sling out of his pocket.

"Hey, what do you want? You want a piece of this?" The man who seemed to speak for them said. "Only self-indulgent cowards would fight a boy as a group with katanas when he has none." The lead horseman grinned at him. "Pretty uppity for a vagrant ronin. I don't mind seeing what you've got. It'll make it more interesting to knock you off your high horse." Jin glared. "I would not draw my blade if I were you." "Is that so. COME AT ME THEN." He swung without warning, but Jin was already ducking under his swing and then slashed upward, killing the man in seconds. He wasted no time, moving in a flurry of steel and blood, until the last man was dead on the ground. 'I _tried_ to warn him.' He thought contemptuously. He wiped the blade on part of one dead man's clothing that wasn't covered in blood, and then sheathed his sword in one fluid movement. He looked over the where the boy stood, poised as if he had been about to use his sling to throw another rock. He slowly lowered his hands and he looked at the samurai with the glasses in front of him in surprise. Jin started walking away. "Wait!" The youth ran up to him. "That was amazing! As quick as the wind! Where did you learn that? Can all samurai fight like that?" Jin turned his steel glare on the young man. "That was a stupid thing to do. You would have been dead before you knew what had happened." He kept walking. The young man fought to keep up with him. "Oh come on. I'm the best with the sling! I would have stood a chance of winning. Besides, could you just let them trample people? You heard them, they said those people were nothing!" Jin mentally sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "As admirable as your sentiments are, you would still be dead, and they would still continue to terrorise people." He boy looked like he was thinking that over. But he was still following Jin. They were nearing the outskirts of the city. "Don't you have to go home?" "Yes, actually. But I don't live in Sapporro. I live near Lake Utonai, which is near Tomakomai." He informed Jin. "Where are _you _going?" "Tomakomai." Jin muttered instantly, seeing where this was going. "Really? Well, then we can travel together. You can tell me about being a ronin and how you can fight so well." The boy prattled on and on, but Jin tuned out. The boy reminded him of Fuu in his ability to go on and on. But it also made him miss his friends again. "Fine. Come along with me if you wish." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm Takayoshi, by the way. Nice to meet you…" It was going to be a long trip.

Note: Ezochi= Hokkaido (It was renamed when the Meiji restoration began. The same time the age of the samurai ended. For this reason it is only fitting to use it. Besides wanting to be historically accurate _if I can_, using Ezochi and not Hokkaido is my nod to the end of the way of the samurai. But don't think I will always be historically accurate. If nothing else that would not be in keeping with the show. Lol).

I consider this chapter amusing, but generally boring. I'm sorry. Mugen's chapter is next. I hope it makes up for it. ;)

I'm sorry Jin! I don't mean you are bor- …er, uninter- You know what, never mind.

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2: Mugen

WARNING: This chapter is not for kids. Theres no lemon specifically, but yeah. Call it lewdness not suitable for children and people who get disgusted with that stuff easily.

**Chapter 2: Mugen**

Mugen picked his teeth with the toothpick. He took one last swig of his sake and flipped a coin to the waitress. He got up and walked lazily out of the eating house. Outside, he stretched and then walked the town at random, looking for something interesting to do. He wondered if this town had a brothel. By its size, it should.

Suddenly, he saw a girl in a pink kimono with brown hair. Fuu? He grabbed the girl by the arm, but when she looked back at him, he saw that it wasn't her. The girl didn't look anything like Fuu. Her let her go. She just looked at him with wide eyes and ran off. "Shit." He swore. Why did he do that? Who cared if some bimbo looked like Fuu from behind? He kicked a rock. What a buzzkill. Who wanted to think about that whiny, flat chested brat?

After a little searching, he found the town's biggest brothel. It wasn't hard to find, with the crowds of men in front. A bunch of whores and sakes later he was feeling a lot better. This was more like it.

The next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes on glaring daylight. "Owww." He had a massive hangover. And he was lying face down in the street. He got up and dusted himself off. 'What a crazy night. Couldn't even make it to an inn.' He grinned, and then winced. Everything was too loud and too bright. And it was already hot out. He yawned and stretched. He walked for a bit before coming across a shrine. He strolled under the roof and curled up behind the altar for a nap.

When he woke, it was still day. He was hungry, so after stealing the money placed at the shrine, he sauntered casually through the towns market and helped himself to whatever wasn't kept a strict eye on that struck his interest. He swiped a meat bun, four red bean pastries, two plums, a handful of beans, and half a grilled eel. He nearly burned his fingers and got caught at the same time while trying to pilfer the eel, but fortunately for him, the stall was busy and the man who manned it would only have noticed if he hadn't choked back the yelp when he burned his fingers on the hot eel. Not a bad meal, and he hadn't even spent a mon. Mugen burped and scratched his side.

He used the money to buy some food and wandered out of town heading north at random. The town was okay, but his feet itched to keep moving. He walked through a forest along with merchants, travelers and people on errands. After a few hours of walking he got bored and tried to amuse himself by picking up small rocks and hitting the small cart that was in front of him. Whenever the man pulling it looked back to see what was hitting his cart, Mugen looked at him blandly. The man couldn't decide if he was being harassed by the man with the hard eyes, or if nuts were falling from the trees above them. He hoped it was the latter. He didn't want trouble. Mugen eventually got bored again. The _thoughts_ came back. Thoughts of a time he hadn't traveled alone. "Fuck that!" He said loudly, causing the man to jump and turn around. "Pfff. Smell you later!" He told the man, before bending like a sprinter on starting blocks and running fast, past the cart man, as the wind he caused whipped the man's clothing. "Thank goodness. My, but he's fast." The man muttered to himself as he watched the young vagabond run down the road. At the next intersection of roads, Mugen turned right down a lesser used path. "Hey mister! That's bandit territory!" The cart driver yelled after him. But the young man was already gone. The cart man shrugged.

It was growing dark and Mugen had slowed to a walk again. He had been aware of people following him in the woods for over an hour now. He stopped. "All right. I can smell you guys, so get out here already!" He called. He was always up for some fun. A bunch of bandits stepped from the trees to surround him. They looked rough and mean. But no match for him. Hopefully, they'd give him some exercise before they died. "Give up yer money and we _might_ spare you." One told him. "Pfft. No thanks. Just fight me already, or I'm walking away." Mugen told them with a grin.

A few hours later Mugen was counting the change he'd pulled out of one dead bandit's pockets. "Man this area sure has a lot of bandits. I wish at least one of them at least had some decent amount of money. " He wanted to hit up a brothel in the nearest town big enough for one. But for right now, it was pitch black in the woods, so he decided to stop for the night. He made a fire with the lighter one of the bandits had on him, sprawled out, and pulled out some paper from his pocket. He put aside the books and focused on a folded piece of paper. He flipped it open and looked at the ukiyo e print of Fuu posing for Backwards Beauty. He stared at it for a long time. Tracing the outline of Fuu, he suddenly remembered the other print that artist guy had made of Fuu. The one with not just her shoulders bare, but her breasts and butt free for all to see. The guy had left the country with that print; otherwise Mugen might have tracked it down. But there was no way Fuu was that well-endowed. It was just Fuu with bigger boobs than normal. He felt his pants get tighter. "Fuck." It was just some picture. It's not like the real Fuu could have this effect on him, he told himself. She was flat as a board. It was just the memory of that tight ass and nice boobs in the lost print that was affecting him. Unable to take it anymore, he proceeded to relieve the tension in his nethers.

"Damit! Where'd the little bastard go?" Mugen said, looking around the city. He turned to the nearest person who was a sweet vendor. "Have you seen this kid? Scrawny, about this high?" "No mister." The vendor said. "Tch!" He ran off looking for the kid. The little shit had swiped his dumpling. Sure, he had stolen it from a local food vendor, but he stole it fair and square! It was his!

He spotted the street urchin and cornered him in an alley. "Gimme my dumpling, you brat!" They boy handed a dumpling with a bite in it over to Mugen wide-eyed. "Whats this? You ate some." "Sorry mister!" The kid ran away out of the alley. "Tch." Then Mugen shrugged and stuffed the stolen food in his mouth. It wasn't his lookout if some kid was all skin and bones. He knew better than anyone that life was shit and you either got tough fast and got quick or you died. He had learned long, long, ago to treat each day as his last. That kid probably already knew that. Mugen smirked. What a pansy kid. 'He won't last long.' He thought to himself. "Hey, wait!" He felt for his money, but it was gone. "Little fucker. I guess I was wrong." He grinned. Then he ran out of the alley to look for the kid and get his money back.

"Fucking troublemaker. He'd better stay out." The burly man tossed an unconscious Mugen bodily out of the red light district. He laid there where he landed in the road until the next day. When he woke up he groaned. "Why's the sun gotta be so bright?" He mumbled, struggling to sit upright against the wall to the district. "Naturally, it's always this bright." A voice said. It sounded familiar to him, but the man's features where hidden by the light behind him. "No shit? And here I was thinking it was usually dark." Mugen retorted sarcastically, agitated by his massive hangover. The person didn't answer. After a pause the person spoke again. "What have you done to be kicked out of the Red Light District this time?" "Who gives a shit? What are you, some…wait _this time?_" Did he meet this guy someplace before? Then it hit him where he'd heard the voice before. "No fucking way. Jin?" He squinted harder at the person. The sun was killing his head. "Hn." Jin moved out of the glare of the sun. Mugen struggled to his feet. "How the fuck are you here? How does that even make sense?" Jin shrugged. "I just came in yesterday from Ezochi. I was looking for work." "At the red light district?" "If necessary." Jin push up his glasses. Mugen looked around. "She's not with me. I haven't seen her since we all split up." "Oh. …Wait, who?" Jin mentally rolled his eyes at this. "Fuu." "Why would I care if she was here or not?" Jin shrugged. If Mugen wanted to pretend he was fooling anyone, then fine. "So why were you kicked out?" Mugen ran his hand through his hair. "I drank more than I could pay for." He told Jin. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by anything you do anymore." Jin replied. Mugen grinned. Normally, he'd tell the person to fuck off and who the fuck were they, but he didn't feel like it with Jin. He stretched and linked his hands behind his head. "I'm hungry. Let's grab some grub." Jin arched and eyebrow. "Only if you're not planning on dining and dashing." Mugen grinned. "It's not like I got any change left." "I can buy you a meal." Mugen frowned. "Fuck no. I don't take handouts from no one. _No one_." He emphasised. It was Jin's turn to grin. "Fine. Then you can pay me back. There's a job, but it called for two man job, not one. I just saw the sign, and was thinking about applying alone anyway, or if I should just try somewhere else when I stumbled across you. If you get the job you'll be able to pay me back in no time." Mugen scratched his stomach. "Fine, sure. I ain't got anything better to do anyway." He slung his sword over his shoulder and followed Jin.

Some days later Mugen was sitting on a rock on a beach, staring out at the sea. Jin walked up behind him. "You really like the sea." Mugen didn't reply. "Let's go." Mugen jumped down and walked down the beach and back to the road after Jin. He had no idea why he had decided to follow old four-eyes after their job ended. But it was probably because he had nothing else to do. No other plans.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and felt the paper in there brush up against his knuckles. He pulled his hand out like it was burned. Stupid broad. He put his hands behind his head. Sometimes he couldn't stand touching that stupid ukiyo e print. Especially lately. But he found he couldn't toss it. He scowled. Jin noticed and wondered what had pissed Mugen off. In one swift movement, Jin reached into the offending pocket and pulled out his prize. He unfolded it. "What the fuck! Give that back four-eyes!" Jin looked at it. "Why do you have this?" He asked as Mugen grabbed the picture and stuffed it back in his pocket. "Bastard." He glared at Jin. "You better lay off. I just do." He grumbled. Jin said nothing. So he still felt something for Fuu. Jin thought Mugen might have not still have a thing for her after all this time. Now he knew. He wondered if Mugen was even aware of his feelings for her. It was a toss-up with Mugen who had a good poker face, but was also equally clueless about some things.

He hadn't reacted as strongly as Jin would have expected or put up a pretense about the picture either. For anyone else, he would have ignored the person or beat him up. So Mugen trusted him, did he? That was unexpected. He pushed up his glasses and began walking.

"Why the hell did he even trust me to find decent digs?" Mugen mumbled and kicked a stone. He was on his way to meet up with Jin, who was looking for work while Mugen looked for an inn. They were supposed to meet up afterwards at a shrine near the center of the city. It was almost a year later since he had met up with Jin again, and he still found himself traveling with the stoic ronin. He had kept telling himself he should just walk away, but he never had. His fingers absentmindedly brushed the print in his pocket which triggered a memory. He pulled out his hand and swore loudly. "Annoying brat." He muttered. He couldn't even escape her when she was gone and he'd never see her again. Then he heard the most impossible thing ever. "Mugen?" a familiar voice said softly. He whirled around. It was Fuu. She was a little taller than he remembered, and her curves were slightly more pronounced through her pink kimono. But it was her. She was holding a bulging cloth bag with leeks peeking out. The surprise on her face mirrored his own.

-The formatting they let you do on here is terrible, so my end notes will start with a dash (it won't save more then that), so you can tell it from the story.

I was rather lost as to how this story would go until this point, where I figured some things out. So sorry for any weirdness/ disjointedness because of this.

Mugens a pervert. Haha.

For clarity: The picture of Fuu he carries is NOT the one with all her parts hanging out. The artist guy took it with him when he left Japan remember? I thought it was too implausible for Mugen to know he'd never made it out of japan and so Mugen couldn't have gone looking for the picture if he wanted to. The one he has is 'Backwards Beauty'. It just reminds him of the other picture that is gone. (He remembers dirty things easily.) By the way if I talk about ukiyo e prints and say call them Shunga, I mean erotic art. (Thats the Japanese name for them. Not to be mistaken for just porn.)

I know I said there will be lemons (and there will. Muhuhaha) but its not going to be constant. Its going to be where its part of the story. And I will warn you at the being of the chapter in question.

Please rate and review! Thanks! Let me know if you think anyone was too out of character (and what they were doing that was OC).


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